Latvia

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Latvia

General Information
Geography
Government
Economy
Population
Health
Communications and media
Chronology


GENERAL INFORMATION

National name Latvijas Republika/Republic of Latvia Area 63,700 sq km/24,594 sq mi Capital Riga Language Latvian (official) Religion Lutheran, Roman Catholic, Russian Orthodox Time difference GMT +2 Major holidays 1 January, 1 May, 23–24 June, 18 November, 25–26 December; variable: Good Friday


GEOGRAPHY

Major towns/cities Daugavpils, Leipaja, Jurmala, Jelgava, Ventspils Major ports Ventspils, Leipaja Physical features wooded lowland (highest point 312 m/1,024 ft), marshes, lakes; 472 km/293 mi of coastline; mild climate Airports international airports: Riga (Spilva), Jelgava; total passengers carried: 340,000 (2003 est) Railways total length: 2,270 km/1,411 mi; total passenger journeys: 23 million (2003) Roads total road network: 69,919 km/43,446 mi, of which 100% paved (2003 est); passenger cars: 329.4 per 1,000 people (2003 est)


GOVERNMENT

Head of state Valdis Zatlers from 2007 Head of government Aigars Kalvitis from 2004 Political system emergent democracy Political executive parliamentary Administrative divisions 26 districts and seven municipalities Political parties Latvian Way (LW), right of centre; Latvian National and Conservative Party (LNNK), right wing, nationalist; Economic-Political Union (formerly known as Harmony for Latvia and Rebirth of the National Economy), centrist; Ravnopravie (Equal Rights), centrist; For the Fatherland and Freedom (FFF), extreme nationalist; Latvian Peasants' Union (LZS), rural based, left of centre; Union of Christian Democrats, right of centre; Democratic Centre Party, centrist; Movement for Latvia, pro-Russian, populist; Master in Your Own Home (Saimnieks), ex-communist, populist; Latvian National Party of Reforms, right-of-centre nationalist coalition Death penalty abolished for ordinary crimes in 1999; laws provide for the death penalty for exceptional crimes, such as crimes committed in wartime Armed forces 5,200; plus 11,200 reservists (2006 est) Conscription compulsory for 12 months Defence spend (% GDP) 1.7 (2005 est) Education spend (% GDP) 5.8 (2003 est) Health spend (% GDP) 3.3 (2004)


ECONOMY

Currency lat GDP (US$) 15.8 billion (2005 est) Real GDP growth (% change on previous year) 11 (2006 est) GNI (US$) 15.5 billion (2005 est) GNI per capita (PPP) (US$) 13,480 (2005 est) Consumer price inflation 6.6% (2006 est) Unemployment 7% (2005 est) Labour force 12.2% agriculture, 25.8% industry, 62% services (2005) Foreign debt (US$) 14.6 billion (2005 est) Major trading partners Lithuania, UK, Germany, Russia, Estonia, Poland, EU25 Resources peat, gypsum, dolomite, limestone, amber, gravel, sand Industries food processing, machinery and equipment (major producer of electric railway passenger cars and long-distance telephone exchanges), chemicals and chemical products, sawn timber, paper and woollen goods Exports timber and timber products, textiles, food and agricultural products, machinery and electrical equipment, metal industry products. Principal market: Lithuania 10.8% (2005) Imports mineral fuels and products, machinery and electrical equipment, base metals, transport equipment, chemicals. Principal source: Germany 13.8% (2005) Arable land 28.2% (2006 est) Agricultural products oats, barley, rye, potatoes, flax; cattle and dairy farming and pig breeding are the chief agricultural occupations


POPULATION

Population 2,295,400 (2006 est) Population growth rate -0.5% (2005–10) Population density (per sq km) 36 (2006 est) Urban population (% of total) 66 (2005 est) Age distribution (% of total population) 0–14 15%, 15–59 63%, 60+ 22% (2005 est) Ethnic groups 56% of Latvian ethnic descent, 32% ethnic Russian, 4% Belorussian, 3% Ukrainian, 2% Polish, 1% Lithuanian Life expectancy 67 (men); 78 (women) (2005–10) Child mortality rate (under 5, per 1,000 live births) 12 (2004) Education (compulsory years) 9 Literacy rate 99% (men); 99% (women) (2004 est)


HEALTH

Physicians (per 10,000 people) 29.1 (2004 est) Hospital beds (per 1,000 people) 7.8 (2003 est) HIV infection (% of population aged 15–49) 0.8 (2005 est) AIDS deaths <500 (2005 est)


COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA

Landline telephones (per 100 people) 31.7 (2005 est) Mobile phone subscribers (per 100 people) 81.1 (2005 est) Radios (per 1,000 people) 700 (2001 est) TV sets (per 1,000 people) 859 (2004 est) Personal computer users (per 100 people) 21.9 (2005 est) Internet users (per 100 people) 44.7 (2005 est)


CHRONOLOGY

9th–10th centuries Invaded by Vikings and Russians. 13th century Conquered by crusading German Teutonic Knights, who named the area Livonia and converted population to Christianity; Riga joined the Hanseatic League, a northern European union of commercial towns. 1520s Lutheranism established as a result of the Reformation. 16th–17th centuries Successively under Polish, Lithuanian, and Swedish rule. 1721 Tsarist Russia took control. 1819 Serfdom abolished. 1900s Emergence of an independence movement. 1914–18 Under partial German occupation during World War I. 1918–19 Independence proclaimed and achieved after Russian Red Army troops expelled by German, Polish, and Latvian forces. 1920s Land reforms introduced by Farmers' Union government. 1934 Democracy overthrown and autocratic regime established; Baltic Entente mutual defence pact made with Estonia and Lithuania. 1940 Incorporated into Soviet Union (USSR) as constituent republic, following secret German–Soviet agreement. 1941–44 Occupied by Germany. 1944 USSR regained control; mass deportations of Latvians to Central Asia, followed by immigration of ethnic Russians; agricultural collectivization. 1960s and 1970s Extreme repression of Latvian cultural and literary life. 1980s Growing nationalist dissent, influenced by the Polish Solidarity movement and Mikhail Gorbachev's glasnost (‘openness’) initiative in USSR. 1988 Latvian Popular Front established to campaign for independence. Prewar flag readopted and official status given to Latvian language. 1989 Latvian parliament passed sovereignty declaration. 1990 Popular Front leader, Ivan Godmanir, became prime minister. 1991 Full independence approved in referendum and achieved following failure of anti-Gorbachev coup attempt in Moscow; Communist Party outlawed. Latvia joined United Nations (UN); free-market economic reform programme instituted. 1992 Curbing of rights of non-citizens prompted Russia to request minority protection by the UN. 1993 Free-trade agreement reached with Estonia and Lithuania. 1994 Last Russian troops departed. 1995 Application for European Union (EU) membership and signature of EU trade and cooperation agreement. 1998 Relaxation of citizenship laws for ethnic Russians. 1999 Vaira Vike-Freiberga elected president by parliament. 2003 Entry to EU endorsed in referendum. Vike-Freiberga re-elected president. 2004 Accession to NATO and EU. Aigars Kalvitis of People's Party became prime minister of centre-right coalition government. 2006 New coalition formed by Prime Minister Kalvitis following parliamentary elections. 2007 Border demarcation treaty signed with Russia. Valdis Zatlers elected president, replacing Vike-Freiberga.


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